Academy - Just The Best Please

 

Hollywood is something I am trying to give a second chance. Years ago, I decided to go back and watch every Oscar Best Picture. For a time, I even watched all the nominees. A Best Picture nod was pretty much a guarantee that you were going to see a good movie. Back in the day when the Academy only nominated 5 pictures, odds were still good that only one, if any, would be a dud. I have a spreadsheet (accounting is in my blood) where I have kept track of what I have seen and my comments. Then in 2009, when the nominees grew again to ten pictures I couldn’t keep up. With the demands of family life, just getting to see a few of the films was tough enough. Soon I was playing catch up and seeing the Best Picture was usually it. Still it was nice to mark an occasion enjoying a really good movie. It is a perfect activity on a cold rainy day or outside on a warm summer night.

I have never taken a film course, but I enjoy the diverse techniques employed by Directors to bring a story to life and the portrayals by the best Actors in the world. Some of the films I have enjoyed the most, have been in subtitles, and one of my favs, the Artist, had no dialogue at all. If the story is captivating and the acting is solid, it is amazing how subtitles just seem to fade.

With all the politics in the real world, it is wonderful escapism to watch recommended art from an industry that celebrates the Best. This all came to an end in 2016 when Moonlight somehow won Best Picture. Now I am going to say that I have loved every Best Pic, but I appreciated all of them on some level. If I was being generous, I could see the film getting a watered down nomination, but winning Best Picture shattered what had been up to the point a lock on time well spent. It was at this time that Hollywood became very interested in diversity and being sure to be as inclusive as possible. These are pursuits I also value, but when these noble pursuits were taken to the extreme the product began to suffer. Acting was out, identity was in. Cultural appropriation should be frowned upon when it is disrespectful or exploitative. But we shouldn’t need to know an actor’s DNA in order for them to get a part. Like many things in our society right now the pendulum is swinging back and I expect Hollywood to do the same - it’s still a business after all. It would be a mistake for the pendulum to swing all the way back, but I can’t see far left Hollywood elites doing that.

One positive step forward as I watch the 2019 Best Picture Parasite, is that the Academy is now celebrating quality from around the world. Hope that ensures that a Best Picture is always, just that.

By Gregory Cawsey